"So, what do you say?" Meliodas asks his brother hopefully. Still with disbelief, Zeldris looks at his older brother and thinks about his offer and can only think about all the reasons against this idea. He would betray his older brother Estarossa, which wouldn't make him any better than Meliodas.

"They'd never accept a king that betrayed them" is all that Zeldris says after moments of silence.

"I'm sure you have a better idea then."

Another time, Zeldris grits his teeth in anger. He feels so helpless right now as there's nothing he can do to save Yami and be with her. No matter how he turns it and how much he thinks about it, Meliodas is right. There's only one option.

After minutes that felt like hours, I see Meliodas and Zeldris come back to the Boar Hat together. They walk kind of relaxed next to each other but I can't wait just one more moment and hurry towards them.

"Now, I guess you two have talked."

"Zeldris has to leave now, Yami."

"What?!" I exclaim. "Why? I mean... Like right now?"

"That shouldn't be your business" says Zeldris and their coldness towards me hurts me more than I'd like to admit.

"Why are you two acting so weird? What have you talked about?" I ask them and talk way too fast. But they don't answer me and I get that this won't change within the next minutes.

"Nice to see you two are keeping secrets from me now. You're a real team" I say offended and cross my arms as I glare at them with a mixture of anger and sadness in my eyes.

Immediately, they both look like they regret their behavior but I'm too mad to admire this adorable sibling-moment at where they're more alike than they'd ever like to admit.

"We just talked about what he could do" says Meliodas and I let my eyes wander over to Zeldris.

"And that is?" I ask.

Zeldris looks at me apologizing and I can see how much he refuses to tell me. Instead, Meliodas answers me and I know he does it to support his brother. After all, Meliodas still cares about him a lot. "We could end this war without any victims if we fight against the one who keeps it ongoing."

My eyes widen immediately when I realize what he's talking about. They're trying to fight against their father, the demon king. "You're kidding, right? You can't really think about it!" I exclaim shocked but they don't say a word. "Guys, I'm serious. Please don't tell me you're going to fight against the demon king! I mean... you wouldn't do this, right? Mel?"

"Don't worry, Yami" says Meliodas. "The Commandments would never follow a traitor. Which Zeldris would be if he follows my plan."

"But I still have to go back. Estarossa will notice that I'm gone" Zeldris finally speaks up.

I walk closer to Zeldris whilst being annoyed by Estarossa. What does Zeldris see in him? His babysitter? But in the end, I know that he's right. Zeldris risked so much already. I want to grab his hands to say goodbye to him but he fends me off. "Don't" is all he says.

"What's wrong?" I ask confused and a bit offended. Ever since he came back from the woods with Meliodas, he's acting really strange. Like, more strange than usual.

"There's no need to act like we're friends. You'll lose your trust in me the moment I'll hurt your friends. So why should we act like things are fine between the two of us."

Tears fill my eyes when his words cut me deep like knifes. He's so cold towards me that it reminds me of the first years we spent together. "Don't..." I whisper. "I-"

"I'm not interested in saying goodbye to you the same way we did 3.000 years ago" Zeldris says dismissive.

"Then don't do it" I say desperate and try to come closer to him once again but he blocks me off.

"Yami, let him go" says Meliodas and places a hand on my shoulder from behind me.

"Take good care of her. She means the world to me" says Zeldris to his brother and turns around to leave us. I shout his name behind him but whilst he ignores me, Meliodas holds onto me by my shoulder and all I can do is to watch Zeldris fly away.

Desperately, I look at Meliodas as tears run down my face. I have no idea what was going on and I want to blame Meliodas for it because everything was fine until the both of them left. But I know that he wouldn't do anything to harm me. Instead, my body feels heavy and I stumble into Meliodas arms, who catches me so I can cry in his chest. Without saying a word, Meliodas holds me until I calm down.

"Why did he do that?" I whimper as the tears continue to roll down my face. If he doesn't want to repeat how we seperated 3.000 years ago, then why did he do the exact same thing? I feel just as lost and lonely as I did back then.

"He left without saying goodbye" Meliodas states and I look up at him in confusion because he's stating the obvious. After all, that's exactly the reason I'm crying like a baby right now. "Whatever he would have done instead, it would have been a goodbye. And you know what a goodbye really means. Leaving like this was the only way to not say goodbye to you."

I open my mouth to answer Meliodas but then I actually realize what he has said. And Meliodas is right. To say goodbye to each other would've meant that we never see each other again after this war, which would mean that one of us... I quickly shake my head to push away that thought. Zeldris left without saying goodbye because it means that there's a glimpse of hope that we'll find back to each other somehow.

But... how?

I look at Meliodas which waves me an encouraging smile. I whipe away the leftover tears and Meliodas pulls me even closer so we both can stand outside the Boar Hat and listen to the absolute silence of the night that seems to be the calm before the storm.

"I know, I'm a fool for falling in love with him" I say sometime later.

"You're not" says Meliodas surprised and looks at me with concern in his eyes. "Zeldris is actually a good guy."

"I know. But he's also the leader of the Ten Commandments and able to use your fathers power. We're meant to break."

Meliodas chuckles. "Looks like complicated relationships run in the family" he says and causes me to chuckle too. Sometimes, humor is the easiest way for us to deal with things. "But... It's my fault that he has become the way he is now. I haven't been a very good big brother. I left him when he needed me the most. To be honest, I kind of forgot about him because I thought he'd get by."

"Things weren't easy for your either, Meliodas. We all have done a lot of mistakes" I say and inhale deeply the cool air. "Let's head inside, it's getting late."

We finally turn around to head inside the tavern, when Meliodas suddenly grabs my hand to stop me. I turn back around and he looks deep into my eyes. "It's my fault he has become that way. He really loves you, you know? I could see it in his eyes. I'm sure you're his Elizabeth."

"Meliodas..."

Merlin, Meliodas, Elizabeth and I sit together in my room and have talked about the past years and the upcoming danger. If there's anyone who knows how dangerous the Ten Commandments can really be, then it's the four of us. To hide our concern from the others, we went to have some time alone. Suddenly, I feel a strong power inside me and I know it's my demonic powers going wild. My head shoots up and I look at Meliodas who returns my gaze with the same expression. "They're coming" Merlin says sternly as she has felt it, too.

We all nod. "Let's get ready" says Meliodas.

I sat in my room in the castle of Camelot, when I heared Merlin say: "I think I've figured out the source of your powers" as she entered the room without asking for permission.

"Oh, hey Merlin, come on in" I said sarcastically and leaned back in my chair. "Looks like you've got news for me."

"You've been ignoring my personal space for so many times, so don't complain" she said and I couldn't help the small amusement about her cold behaviour.

"Alright. Source of my powers. Thought it was coming from my father in whatever kind of fucked up way. I don't know, genes or a curse or something."

"I thought so, too. But you're powers are increasing more and more. And there's something I could observe that's different from the demonic powers I know from Meliodas."

"This seems to become the most interesting conversation the two of us ever had" I said and watched Merlin roll her eyes.

"You really are a lot like him. I wish I would've known that before agreeing to him."

"Aww, Merlin. And I really thought the two of us are friends. Am I nothing but a job to you?" I said sarcastically just because I knew it would annoy her even more. Sometimes, it was way too funny to push her buttons.

"Yami!" Merlin scolded and I chuckled before finally listening to her. I annoyed her enough for one day. "I met this man a while ago who seems to get his strength from the sun. We don't know exactly how he got these powers but the stronger the sun shines, the stronger his powers become."

"Well, this sounds interesting but I thought we're going to talk about my powers instead of these from your new lover."

"Yami!" Merlin scolded once more as her anger rised but she quickly caught herself again and sighed. "You were easier to get along with when you were more shyly. But to get back to the topic: I think you're the opposite from this man. Whilst he's the master of the sun, you seem to be the Mistress of darkness."

"The mistress of darkness?" I asked confused.

The mistress of darkness. The woman who gets her strength from the night and the moon. The darker the night, the stronger her powers. A human born with demonic powers. A woman who lost her home but found a family. And a mixture of two races that fell in love with a demon.

I have spent years and years trying to figure out who I am, where my powers come from and where I belong to. I forgot that there's not just one side about me that I can be proud of. Instead, I can be proud of everything I've become and who I'm from. I'm neither a human, nor a demon. I'm both. And still, I have to pick a side I want to fight with. At least, that's what I thought. But today is the day to accept that in a war like this, there aren't any sides to be on. Zeldris made me realize that there's no real right or wrong because these people we fight against to, have no real choice. I have to stop thinking about who's good or bad because none of us is bad or evil. Everyone fights for what they think is right or because they simply had to.

With one final glance at my armor, I turn around to leave the room.

I'm Yami, the mistress of darkness and I'm going to end the Holy War together with the Seven Deadly Sins.